SEO Optimization of Special Topic Pages to Capture a Large Volume of Long-Tail Keywords

The homepage length is limited and cannot accommodate more keywords.

Category pages are merely list pages, and Baidu generally does not give them high weight. Moreover, the number of category pages on a website is also limited.

The weight of internal pages is even lower, making them suitable only for capturing long-tail keyword traffic.

Some keywords have considerable traffic, but internal pages cannot meet the demand for these keywords, and category pages lack competitiveness. Building another website to capture these keywords is not cost-effective.

When optimizing the title of a special topic page, three points should be noted:

A. It is best to have timeliness.

For example, the keyword "conditions for studying abroad" has a certain timeliness because users definitely want to know the latest conditions for studying abroad. Consider adding the keyword "2017" to the title.

B. It must contain keywords that people search for.

We go through a lot of trouble to create a special topic page to capture keyword traffic, so the title of the special topic page must contain keywords that people search for.

C. It should have a guiding sentence.

By using the User Demand Analysis Form to analyze the keyword "conditions for studying abroad," we can see that users searching for "conditions for studying abroad" also have demands such as "cost," "self-funded," "government-funded," "high school," "postgraduate studies," etc. These can also be included in the title to guide users to click.

The URL of a special topic is relatively simple and should be represented in the form of a directory and kept as short as possible. For example, the URL of the special topic page "conditions for studying abroad" can be designed as follows:

When it comes to content, special attention is needed. In fact, if you observe carefully, you will find that a special topic page is like a "homepage," composed of aggregated content. The only difference is that the homepage addresses a broader range of needs and has richer content.

Therefore, when designing a special topic page, the principle of homepage design should also be followed: arrange the content according to the size of user needs.

For example, by analyzing the keyword "conditions for studying abroad" using the User Demand Analysis Report, we find that the order of user needs is: conditions for studying abroad— which countries can be studied abroad— costs of studying abroad— insurance for studying abroad. We should arrange the content according to this order of needs.

In addition to this, there are two differences between a special topic page and a homepage.

Generally, it is best to have a brief introduction about the special topic at the top of the page. This makes it easier for users to understand what problem this special topic page can help them solve, and such design also appears more professional.

This is particularly important because sometimes the content aggregated on a special topic page may come from other categories. Once these content pages are used as the content of the special topic page, the breadcrumb navigation of the content page should link back to the special topic page, not the category page. This is very important, and SEO personnel must communicate this requirement with the technical team in advance, otherwise, most mainstream open-source systems do not have this function.

By adopting a special topic strategy, it is possible to optimize keywords that have a broad range of demands and considerable traffic but are not suitable for the homepage, category pages, or content pages.